Hastening Bonds
by Tohno-san
Summary: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair fanfic. A little playtime on the beach! Drabble, fluff, based on Island Mode. Ibuki x Hajime.


Ibuki raised both of her hands in the air and jumped up and down on the pale-gold sands of the Jabberwock beach. "Hajimeeeeeee!" she called out cheerfully, waving at the approaching, breathless young man as he neared her. "Hey hey Hajime! You can't get tired now! Your date with Ibuki has just begun!" She grinned and placed her hands on her hips, as if proud of something. Hajime forced a weary smile. They had been running for two hours now, and it was beginning to take its toll on him - the star-jumps, sudden (calmer) starfish search, and then tree climbing was beginning to get to be a bit much, although Hajime did feel pretty good that he'd managed to keep up with the boundless energy of this girl.

Hajime sighed again, but then felt a smile come back to him. She did look really happy to be playing with him like this. Suddenly, her gaze dropped down from whatever cloud she was admiring to him, and then below his head - after which she started giggling. Hajime flushed and looked down - thank God, it was just that a starfish had latched onto his trousers... Somehow and at some point. "H-Hajime, there's a starfish on your... Ahahaha!" Ibuki let out a snort as she continued to giggle. "Wait right there, I need to get Mahiru for this!"

"The hell with that, I need to get this off of me!" Retorted Hajime, embarrassed, trying to pull off the strange native creature. It refused to let go. "Hajime," Ibuki said, with a silly grin, "You need to be more forceful! You won't hurt it, c'mon. Ibuki will show you." She leaned forward and grabbed the starfish, and resting her left hand on his shoulder - the sudden touch causing a little red to spark into Hajime's cheeks, began to pull it off. Exerting a bit of extra strength as she tried to pull the starfish off, Ibuki let out a yelp as she fell forward onto him, her left hand inexplicably pushing him onto the sand as she did so.

Hajime opened his eyes to see Ibuki pull her head up from where she fell onto his chest, as she shook her head from side to side in an almost cartoonish way. She turned to face him, her body still resting on his, and gasped. "Hajime! I'm sorry, are you okay? You didn't blow your head up on a sharp piece of sand or anything?" Hajime wondered what was worse, the casual way she asked that or that she believed such a way of death was possible. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied simply - pausing, looking at her eyes suddenly. While it was true she didn't seem all that worried... She wasn't even thinking about that, he could tell. Their eyes had just met, now. Ibuki looked almost as though she was going to turn away... But she didn't.

Suddenly, everything was quiet. The gentle sound of the clear blue ocean waves lapping at the shore and the breeze through the coconut trees were all that could be heard, save for the cry of a bird or two. Ibuki gazed into the gentle brown of Hajime's eyes, and... Felt like smiling - but she didn't, quite. Even though it made her happy, it made her curious. There were a lot to those eyes, she felt. She wondered if all eyes were like that, treasure boxes that were even bigger on the inside. This sort of... Plain, spiky-haired young guy didn't really attract her attention when she saw him at first.

But he was kind, and smart, and he believed in everyone. He was the sort of person she felt she could rely on. Ibuki felt that more than that, he was-

"I-Ibuki. What are you doing with your hand, just now?" Ibuki realized Hajime's face had turned almost unhealthily crimson. "Huh? Oh-oh, I'm grabbing the starfish, right!" As her attention shifted to what she was doing, a sudden sharp truth burned itself into her mind.

"Oh god! Ibuki already took it off!" She yelled out, her hand still not moving from where it gripped his crotch. Gasping again, she pulled it away. "Hajime! Woah. Sorry. Ibuki didn't mean to get frisky like that all of a sudden!"

Hajime gave a gasp of relief. He also felt a little... Slightly disappointed. But he couldn't help but laugh a little. It was typical of Ibuki to get distracted like that... And he could kind of tell what she was thinking, too... He cleared his throat. "Don't worry, it's okay." he blinked. Ibuki was still staring at him. "You are... Still on top of me, you know?" He murmured dryly, glancing at her. It felt a little awkward - well not awkward, he corrected himself, but barely managing to complete the thought when he realized Ibuki was leaning closer to him, suddenly, her cheeks a little... Red. He felt like an alarm had gone off in his head - and a sudden rush of hormonal thoughts came to his head.

_Don't tell me, she's going to...!?_

She then looked at his eyes really closely... Squinting slightly. "Huh, your eyes do look like they have cancel signs in them."

_Seriously?_

Hajime gave her a far less deep-and-meaningful stare as Ibuki pulled away giggling. "C'mon Hajime, let's not sit around all day! Ibuki and Co., Music club activities, resume!" She jumped up to her feet, and extended a hand to him. Giving a sigh at first, he nodded and then roused himself._ Alright, let's do this._ Placing his hand in hers, he pulled himself up with her assistance, and then -

Felt something soft touch his lips.

Hajime felt his heart pound his chest. Ibuki pulled away from the kiss, her eyes opening delicately as she gave a smile. Hajime felt his lips tremble slightly. "H-Hajime?" She frowned in concern suddenly, and leaned in close again. "Your lips are trembling! What- oh wait!" She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "Don't tell me Ibuki took your first kiss!" She gasped again, repeating the same motion - in a completely redundant fashion. "Oh no! I robbed Hajime of his innocence!" She cried out, seemingly aghast.

Hajime felt himself relax. The initial shock of the very sudden kiss began to subside, and he instead found himself... A little amused by her reaction. "Ibuki.." He paused, then shyly placing a hand on her arm, brought his lips back to hers, giving her a soft, simple kiss. The two shared a look, a happy yet quiet meeting between their eyes as their lips parted. Ibuki grinned and chuckled with a childish mischief. "Hmhmhm, Hajime is trying to do a little bit of *this* and *that* with his date, hm." She said, seemingly to herself. "Wait, but you-" Hajime started, confused,

"C'mon Hajime! It's time to run!" Ibuki laughed cheerfully, pulling at his hand. Hajime wondered where on earth she got the boundless energy that flowed through her. Maybe, he mused, it had something to do with that hairstyle. He let himself hasten after her, wondering what on earth was going on her head - honestly, he sometimes wished Ibuki would give him more explanations for the reasons why she did... _Well, anything really,_ he thought with a sigh.

Ibuki chuckled nefariously and bit her lip as she sprinted her way through the golden sands barefoot, a sparkle in her eyes.

_Hajime... I do really like you._


End file.
